What is Transmission?

Transmission is a BitTorrent client package that (as of version 1.34) also contains Clutch, an integrated webUI. It easy to compile, install, configure and operate, and it has relatively low memory and cpu usage.

Compiling and Installation

Note:A Forum user has reported that the version in the optware feed gives segfaults when installed in his open stock linkstation pro, following the instructions on transmissions site for compiling should be the best approach.

Configuration

Use the WebUI. In the bottom left-hand corner there is a small tab that allows you to set preferences. Choose a torrent directory by specifying Preferences-> Download To: . Many users will choose /mnt or /mnt2, or some subdirectory thereof.

Usage

We assume that you have a general idea of how torrents work, and a familiarity with Torrent Trackers. A particulary good tracker that is germane to our needs is LinuxTracker.org. We will use it here in the examples. Be aware that to upload torrent files, you must have open an account there, as is the case for the vast majority of sites.

Downloading

Download a torrent file to your LS. This can be done with wget, but is easier using your desktop's web browser, and then dragging and dropping that torrrent file to a mounted share of your LS.

To use the WebUI of Transmission, point your browser to <ip of you linkstation>:9091 - you should see something like the screenshot shown on the top of this page.

Use the Open button to choose & load the torrent file. The download should begin shortly. As is the case w/ torrents, it may be very fast or quite slow, depending on the number of seeders and they upload limits.

Sharing/Uploading

Create a torrent file

Place the file you wish to share in your torrent directory. For example, if the file you want to share is vmlinuz92608foonasem.gz, then use the cli binary like this:

After executing this you should have a file called vmlinuz92608foonasem.torrent, which is suitable for uploading to a torrrent tracker site.

Upload to torrent tracker/site

Checking

Troubleshooting

The torrent that I'm trying to seed reads "Unregistered Torrent". Normally, this problem is because you are trying to seed w/ your original torrent file. The fix for this is usually to upload your raw torrent file to the tracker of your choice, and then download it to your torrent dir. Then open it w/ Transmission and it should proceed as expected.

My torrent is registered, but seeding doesn't seem to work, even if I know someone is trying to download the file. This could be a port forwarding problem. The easy but really (stupidly) insecure way is to put your box on a DMZ, but this is way too risky in terms of network security. It is better to make sure you have port forwarding set up for port 51413 (TCP, port start:51413, port end:51413, port map: 51413).